CareerMysteries

Be conscious of the fact that human resources people, and I am one of them, are notoriously anal about making sure that applicants account for all of their lifetime on the resume.

Be careful not to leave notable gaps of years that are unaccounted for, or they will assume that you are an ex-convict, an illegal alien or a real alien (would that then be a legal alien??).

You do not need to be super specific about dates, years are fine and months and years even better, but not showing some reference for what you were doing for a full year or more will raise a big, red flag and your resume could land in the ‘No’ pile before you have any chance to explain that you were living with the Tibetan monks or whatever.

Keep in mind that they are trying to eliminate as many people from the ‘Yes’ pile as possible and any excuse will do.  Don’t make it an easy decision.